Cotton chopper



Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

Ligarse;

' Jwvs A. CARY mn'JEssE c.

CARY, 0F TPEL, AKANSAS'...

corren c HoiirEa.

Application filed February 11, 1920.

To all whom 'it may concern: Y

Be it known that we, JAMESr A. CARYY and JnssEC. CARY, citizens of the United States, residing at Tupelo, in ,the county of Jackson and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Choppers, of which the following is a speclfication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. ,Y

Our invention aims to provide a machine that will not be complicated or expensive by which hard and expensive hand labor may be saved in the cultivation of cotton, and to. this end said invention consists inthe machine constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and defined by or included within the scope of the `appended claims. In the drawings Y Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one half of the same;

Fig. 3 1s a detail view in cross section to show'the knife vibrating mechanism; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspectiveV of the scraper adjusting mechanism.

Our machine has a light frame 10 that consists of two parallel side bars and cross bars that connect the side bars, with a pair of wheels 11 at the front on an axle or shaft 12, said wheels being separated or spaced apart so that as the machine moves along they will straddle the rowof cotton to the left. At the rear, and preferably at each side, is a caster wheel or roller 13 carried byy a lever 14 pivoted to the Yframe sidev bar and adapted to be swung to raise and lower the frame, by a hand lever 15. Also at the rear and at each side, a guiding handle 16 is provided. The machine of course, is drawn along by a draft animal, or animals.

At the side of one of the wheels 11, and fixed thereto so as to turn with it, is a disk 17 having on its outer side, at regular intervals, gear teeth 18, the disk being thus a mutilated crown gear, which teeth, inl succession, mesh with and revolve a pinion 19 on a horizontal shaft 20 that extends from front to rear and parallel with the adjacent frameV side bar from which at intervals it is supported, and journalled, byinwardly projecting brackets 21. The shaft is thus intermittently revolved as the machine moves along. Said shaft has two cranks 22, each of which is connected by a link or pitman 23 with an upstanding lever 24 that is pivoted between its ends to a. frame cross bar 25 and serial No. 353/5955.

at its lowerfend` has attached to `it a cottonchopping knife' 26, which bythe action :of

the crankshaft isswung to and'lfro, transversely' of themachine. Said knife is in the form of Van invertedv V in cross section and thus chops iirst'with one blade, on one side and then withl the otherblade on the other side. The upperfend of eachlever 24 is weighted, as by a ball 27 tocounterbalance the knife. Y f

Forward of the chopping knife are Scrapers 28, each being attached to a shank 29 that is/adjustably attached to a bar 30 that is pivoted by ahinge 31 atl its upper end, to a vertical bar secured to one of the side bars of frame 10. The hinge laxis is lengthwise of the Vmachine so that the two opposing scraperV supporting bars 30 arev movable crosswise of the machine and totwo wards and from each other to vary the dis'- tance apart of the Scrapers. A` coil spring 32 at eachside of the machine reaches from a scraper carrying bar 30, to which it is connected below its hinge, to the' frame side bar and acts normally to swing the scraper outward. To swing the bars simultaneously inward, to move the Scrapers closer together, Awe connect the two bars 30 by a iexible connection consisting of two links 30, and connect to the link joint thelower end of a vertical rod 33 whose upper end is pivoted toa hand lever 34 by which the link joint may be raised and thus the two ScrapersV shifted towards each other. iA vertical bar or post 35 has a vertical series of teeth 36.

for engaging the lever to latch it to hold4 the Scrapers at a desired adjustment with sofV reference` to each other and the cotton plants. l

1. A machine ofthe classiV described having a wheel-supported frame, a pair of im.

plement-carrying standardsya pivoted connection between each of said standards and the frame onwhich the standards may move to and from. eachV other, yielding means tendlng. to swing said standards inl one direction of their relative movement, and

manual means to move them in the opposite' direction comprising a hand lever extending longitudinally of the machine, a yrod pivotally connected with said lever and extendthrough the ground, and also after the loo l d ing downwardly therefrom`Y betweenll-sid standards and links extending between end connecting such standards; pivoted' together and to the lower endof said rod. f

2. A machine of the classdescribedheying a 'wheel-supported frame, e pair offi'rnplement-carrying standards, l egpivoted connection between each of seid standards and theA frame on ywhich, the standards may' move to andl from each other, a 'spr'ingactingvon eachv standard to swing it infone direction;

f a lever, andr .connections betweensaidf lever'- andboth standards to vsirnulten'eously move' theml in^-oposiltion toi-:theffsprings,` the said lever exten ing longitndinlly Yof 4the machinevand ysarid connections comprising links extending-between the standards and pivoted toV each other, and e vertical rod extendpward from said links to seid lever and v-pivrotally connected to the links and to the lever.

In testimony whereof we hereuntoV vetix ojuI signatures. i Y Y *Y g JAMES A.E CARY; j

1 JESSE (1 -CARY.vr 

